Ukraine’s lack of grain supplies has huge repercussions

Last year Ukrainian grain was estimated to have fed 400 million people, and the absence of shipments from Ukrainian ports blocked by Russian warships in the Black Sea has had a huge repercussions around the world, according to Ms. Ward. Hundreds of millions of people, mostly in the Middle East and Africa, have been put at risk of famine because of the soared prices.

According to Denise Brown, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, at least five countries are now experiencing famine-like conditions and another 20 are on the watch list for famine.

Pivdennyi Port is the last of the Odesa region's three main ports to come online after months of hiatus since the start of the war on February 24. The first ship loaded with Ukrainian harvest left the Port of Odesa on August 1, following an agreement between the United Nations and Turkey to allow the export of roughly 20 million tons of grain that had been stuck in Ukrainian silos since the beginning of the war.

Since then, at least eight ships have successfully traversed the mined waters of the Black Sea to deliver grain to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.